Cotton-harvesting machine.



H. B. MORRIS. COTTON HARVESTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 13,1908.

Patented Mar. 8, 1910.

' SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. B. MORRIS. COTTON HARVBSTING MACHINE. APPLIUATION FILED JULY 13,1908.

Patented Mar.8,1910.

7 SHEETS-BHIEBT 2.v

S-SHEBT 3. CQ

Patented Mar.8,1910.

H. B. MORRIS. VCOTTON vHARVJEISTING MAGHlNE. APPLIoATIoN FILED JULY 1a,190s.

H. B. MORRIS. COTTON HARVESTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 1a,1908.

'I SHEETS-SHEET i.

Patented Mar. 8, 1910.

n KN m K Q .lum I d H. B. MORRIS. COTTON HARVESTING MACHINE. AAPPLICATION FILED JULY 13, .1908. 195 l 652.

H. B. MORRIS. COTTON HARVESTING MACHINE. APPLIUATION FILED JULY 13,190s.

'7 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

]Patented Mar. 8, 1910.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 7.

zae l Jrzzy E. jfn's H. B. MORRIS. COTTON HARVESTING MACHINE.APPLICATION FILED JULY 13, 1908. 95 l 652.

Wu. lolcvww- HENRY B. MORRIS, OF GBANDlRAPIDS, MIGHGAN, .ASSIGNOB FONE-HALF T l HENRY W. JOHNSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

v i common-HARVESTING MAcHiNn.

antena?.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar.. 8, 1910..

vApplication ledl July 13, 1908.4 Serial No. 443,328.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that .L HENRY B. MoRnIs, a citizen of the United States,residing m AtGrand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan,have invented ceitain new and useful Improvements in Cotton HarvestingMachines, of which the following 1s a speciiicat-lon. v

My invention Vrelates to cotton'harvesting machines of the 'class inwhich cotton is gathered from the ripe bolls on the standing plants, asthe .ii'iachine 1s drawn across the tield. by means of what are known inthis art as picker-stems? or toot-hed spindles which, as the machineprogresses, are thrust into the.` plants while being revolved each aboutits own axis, enter the bolls,A take hold of the ripe cotton, detach itfrom the bolls ward tliereinto. The lnachine constructed in accordancewith my invention is adapted to operate between two adjacent row-s andto pick cotton'froiii one-half of each plant in each of such rows, noattempt being made to pick all the cotton at one operation from theentiie plant, the opposite side of the 'plant being picked in the next,trip through the field. As the distance between the rows oi plantsdiers materially in different places, and according to diii'erent.modes'oi'planting. and diti'erent conditions of soil I ein )loy meanswhereby the width of the machine 4lnay be varied to accommodate suchvariations in the widths of the spaces between lthe rows. and as thelower bolls ripen tirst. and are ready to be picked before the others, Iso construct the mechanism that the picker stems may be iliadeto'operate on either the upper or lower portions of the plants, meansbeing provided for adjusting the picker mechanism vertically for thispurpose.

My machine Vcomprises two carryino wheels on which is supported anarched front or main frame provided with devices by means of which itswidth may be adjusted. To the front part of the front or main frame thedraft devices are secured and to the rear part thereof are attached theframes supporting the picker mechanism.

'.ll`hese latter trames are made vertically adjustable so that thepicking mechanism may be elevated or depressed bodily to hold thelpicker-stems a movement rearward atsuch on either the upper or lowerparts of the plants.` The pickenstenis are arranged in groups and theyare provided with piiiions at times gearing with racks which causethem'to rotate as they are moved from one end to the other of thepicker-frames and they are caused by cam tracks to descend into thenlalits and also to rise vertically out of them while revolving eachabout its own axis. The picker-stems are carried by. endless chainswhich give them the movements above specified to move them into and outof the plants. and thesechains also give the picker-stems a movementrearwardat such speed as to cause the picker-stems to remain practicallystationary so far as any advancing-movement with the machine isconcerned while in the plants so that there may be no dragging action onthe stems, leaves, etc. of the plants which would tend to injure them,the arrangement being such that the pickerstems are thrust verticallyinto the plants, revolved therein. and then moved vertically outwardfrom the plants, first boring into the bollsl and"` gathering the cottontherefrom. and then rising out of the plants without injury thereto.Mechanism-is provided whereby the groups ot' pickers are moved laterallytoward and away from the plane of the plants. the pickers being carried1nto the range ot mechanism which istrips the cotton from thepicker-stems and deposits it in suitable receptacles.

ln the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevationand partly in section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 shows a verticalcentral section of t'he machine on the line ofFig. 3. F ig. 3 is a planview of the machine, some of .the parts being partially broken away inorder to better illustrate other parts. Fig. at shows a transversesection on the line -L- of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showingdiagrammatically the mostessential parts of the picker-stems and themechanism for operating them. Fig. 6 illustrates the manner ofseparating the cotton from the picker-stems. Fig. ''shows a crosssection of one of the picker-stems on the line 'T-T of Fig. G. Fig. 8shows an elevation of one form of picker-stern which [may .be employed.Fig. 9 shows a cross section thereof on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8; and Fig.10 shows a cross section on the line 10-10 of Fig. 8. Fig. 11 is aperspective view showing certain details of the main frame of themachine whereby it may be widened or narrowed. Fig. 12 shows a rearelevation of a part of the machine illustrating particularlyJ thearrangement of the cam tracks for controlling the movements of thepickers.

The cotton harvesting machine shown the drawings is so constructed thatthe draft animal walks between two adjacent rows of cotton plants whilethe carrying-wheels travel in the two adjacent balks on opposite sidesof such rows. The picker mechanism is carried by the machiney betweenthe two adjacent rows, and the main frame is arched on opposite sides insuch manner that while supporting the carrying-wheels on opposite sidesof the rows of plants operated upon, the plants are cleared or bridgedby the frame as the machine advances. As the widths of the spacesbetween the rows vary considerably in various places and as the widthsof the cotton lplants also vary, the main frame'is made adjustable as towidth so as to accommodate the varying widths 0f the plants and thevarying widths of the spaces between the rows of plants. the adjustmentbeing such that the carryingwheels may travel in the middle portions ofthe balks on opposite sides of the rows being operated upon, while thearched portions of the frame bridge the rows of plants without coming incontact with them Whatever be their widths.

The mechanism is mounted in two carrying-wheels A of large diameter, saysix feet, to afford good drivin power and all the mechanism is operatedrom saidwheels as the machine advances. The wheels are loosely mountedon st-ud axles a projecting from the front or main frame o'f the machineand are geared to the picker-mechanism in the manner hereinafterdescribed. The main or front frame comprises `on each j side two larchedbars B, preferably made of channel iron, their lower, outer, convergingends being firmly connected together in any suitable way and carryingthe stud axles a. From the axles a the bars extend upwardly in avertical plane and diverge from each other until they reach ahorizont-al plane somewhat above the tops of the wheels whence theyextend in lines parallel to each other toward the middle portion of. themachine and are then bent abruptly downward and extended diagonally indlverging directions until they reach a plane somewhat above the axialline of the wheels when the are extended in parallel lines toward the midle of the machine. This construction provides for supporting the carring-wheels on opposite sidesof two rows o plants, bridging the plantsthemselves and supporting the Working parts of the mechanism between therows of plants.

In order to vary the widths of the arched bars, the upper horizontalportions b thereof are divided at b and are connected by means ofslotted bars b2 through the slotted portions of which extend bolts b3attached to the parts b of the arched bars. It will readily beunderstood how the widths of the arches may be adj usted bythe devicesshown. rThe inner portions b5 of the frame bars have firmly secured tothem short bar sections b which are connected to slotted bars B2 bymeans of bolts 67. IIn this way the arched bars on opposite sides of themachine may be moved bodily toward and from each other and inasmuch asthere are duplicate sets of picking mechanisms on opposite sides of themachine, as will be hereinafter more fully explained, and as it isnecessary that the 'picking mechanism shouldbe adjusted to correspondwith variations in the widths of the spaces between the rows of plants,the adjusting devices shown areof importance. l

-have shown simple but etlicient means for varying the widths of thearches and for widening and narrowin the main frame, but obviously theseadjustments may be made in other ways and by other devices than thoseillustrated.

To the portions b5 of the bars B are attached bars -B3 runninglongitudinally in lines parallel with the line of draft and from therear ends of these bars rise vertical bars B4 from the upper ends ofwhich extend downwardly diagonally arranged bars B which are attached attheir lower ends to the front ends of the bars B3. In this Way avertical triangular frame is constructed 011 each side of the machineand these frames may be adjusted toward and from each other by adjustingthe connections between the frames B in the manner hereinbeforedescribed.

The shafts C for the draft animal may be attached to the main frame inany suitable Way, as shown they are attached to the slotted cross barB2. Each vertical bar B4 carries a casting D which is verticallyadjustable on the bar B, being held thereon by set screws d, and thesecastings are preferably connected by a horizontal bar D which isadjustably connected by means of bolts al with the castings D, so thatwhen the main yor front frame is widened or narrowed suitableadjustmentsmay be made to provide for the lateral movements of thecastings' D which, of course, move sidewise with the triangular framesabove referred to. Each casting D is formed with a laterally projectingportion d extending toward the middle portion of the machine, its innerend being formed with a rearwardly extending portion d2 to which issecured in any suitable way an lL-shaped frame E. These frames E supporta large part of the picker-mechanism and should be sufficiently strongfor that purpose while being as light as possible. It is thereforeconvenient to make such frame comparatively thin but sufliciently deepto resist all vertical strains. lt will be understood that there isaframe E on each side of the machine, each one being connected, in the1nanner before specified, with a vertical bar B4 of the front frame.Each frame E is formed near its upper front end'with anupwardlyprojecting arm E toN which is rigidly secured a laterallyprojecting stud axle y on which are mounted two sprocket wheels Gf thatrevolve on the stud axle but are held in place by suitable collars. Atthe upper and lower ends of the rear part .of each frame E there arestud axles g', each of which supports two sprocket-wheels Gr and just'below the sprocket-wheels G 0f each frame, the frame carries a sleeveg2 through which extends a. shaft g3 carrying two sprocket-'wheels G2.Each frame E supports a cam track lh", the latter being held suitablyaround the frame by brackets e projecting from the shafts g, g', of thesprocketwheels Gr, Gr and from the shafts g3 by hangers e. Sprocketchains H encircle the sprocket-wheels Gr, G', G2, in the manner clearlyshown. The shaft g3 on each side of the machinev carries a sprocketwheel l which, when rotated, imparts motion to the two chains H of eachset of chains.

Motion is imparted from the wheels A to the sprocket-wheels l in thefollowing manner :-Each wheel A carries a pawl ll engaging aratchet-wheel l2 on the stud axle a and 'rigidly secured to a spur wheelI3 connected by a vchain l* with a sprocket-wheel l5 on a shaft Imounted in a bearing bracket I7 projecting from' one of the frame barsB6. The two shafts l are connected by a sleeve Is which is adjustable onthe shafts so that the connection may be extended or shortened toprovide for the widening or narrowing of the machine. On the sleeve I8are sprocket wheels I? jwhich are connected by chains Il with thesprocket-wheels l on'the shafts g3. rll`he driving mechanism on oppositesides of the machine is of the saine construction and in this way motionmay vbe communicated from each wheel A to picker mechanism on the sameside of the machine. The sprocket-wheels ll9 are adjustable on thesleeve 18 so that when the machine is widened Ves or narrowed thesprocketwheels may be l properly set for this adjustment of the machine.

Each casting D carries a bracket D24 to which is attached a rack bar .lhaving teeth on its upper side and extending rearwardly and downwardlybelow the plane of the cam tracks 'above referred to. The cam tracks aresupported on the frame E between the chains H of each pair. Each camtrack is continuous and comprises a lower portion 7' extendmg parallelwith the hne of draft,

`an upper portion f also extending parallel with the line of draft butin a plane nearer to the middle of the machinejthan the por-l tion y",a. rear portion f2 connecting the upper and lowerl port-ions f and f anda front portion f3 jconnecting the upper and lower portions. rll`he two.sprocket chains H of each pair are parallel with each other and are soheld by their pulleys G as to run, as viewed from the side, in linessubstantially following the contour of the cam track arranged betweenthem. rllhese chains carry the pickers across the top of the rack bars Jdownwardly and rearwardly, then carry them upwardly and inwardly overthe top of the frame E, then downwardly and outwardly at the front oftheframe onto the rack bars and so on.

The picker-stems are preferably arranged in groups, as illustrated,three picker-stems being preferably employed in each group.V

The middle ickerstem L is connect with a short sha t Z carrying a bevelwheel Z meshing with a bevel wheel Z2 by means of which the middle'picker is positively rotated about its longitudinalaxis. rHic shaft Zextends through a bearing' in a bracket- Z which bracket is formedwit-hlaterally projecting arms Z4 through which extend theA Shanks Z5 ofthe two outer picker-stems L. c

Each of the Shanks Z5 carries a spur wheel ZG gearing with a spur wheelZ7 carried by the shaft Z of the middle picker-stem L. The

revolving central picker-stem L in this waycommunicates mot-ion to theouter pickerstem L. rl`hese, however, turn in an opposite direction, inthe manner indicated in Fig. 6. Each ,picker-stem preferably consists ofa thin concavedA relatively narrow long blade m of sheet metal twisted,as indicated, after the manner of a twist drill, and tapered toward itslower end which is much narrower than its upper end. The edges of.V

the blade are serrated with teeth resembling saw-teeth. Such a picker isillustrated in Fig. 8 and the form of picker shown in Fig. 8 may beemployed, but I may also add' to the blade 'm other blades m. rllhesemay be `riveted to the blade m and twisted in the manner indicated,their outer edges being serrated in the manner: before described. Thesepicker-stems are designed to enter into the ripe bolls of cotton, boreinto them, wind the cotton around them, then recede and detach thecotton from the bolls and carry it away to asuitable receptacle 1n themanner hereinafter described.

Each of the brackets Z? depends from a laterally sliding bar. M which isarranged to move back and forth in a supporting barlll carried by a pairof chains- H. Each bar M is firmly connected with a pair of chains onone side of the machine in any suitable way and is carried around theframeLE by the chains. It has a dove-tail connection with the slidingbar M permitting of the i lateral movement of the bar M, but preventingit from moving in any other direction. Each bar M is slotted Vandthrough this slot extends a pin n carried by the comported in bracketson a sliding bar M, and

each carrying a spur-wheel n? adapted to gear with the rack bar J. Thisrack bar, it will be observed, only engages the pinions n when saidpinions are traveling from the front portion of the picking mechanismdownward toward the rear portion. As soon as the pinions pass oftI fromthe. low or rear portions of the rack bars, the pickers are raised fromthe rack bars and move laterally inward toward the central portion ofthe machine, but on the -return movement the pinions n are broughtintoline with the rack bars and" gear therewith when they are travelingrearward and downward below the cam tracks. It will thus be seen thateach group of pickers is projected laterally outward as its movesdownward and that as itmoves rearward each picker in the group isrotated about its own axis..

The length of the bars M varyand the pins n are properly located ytocause the. groups of pickers to travel in different longitudinal lines,or those lines which run parallel with the line of draft. This is forthe purpose of causing the pickers to operate on at least one-half ofeach row of bushes. Each group of pickers is so held by its supportingbracket that when it is moving downward and rearward over the rack bar,the pickerstems are held in substantially vertical plane. This manner ofholding the pickers is such that on the upward and downward movement thepicker-stems are presented to the stripping mechanism at such an angleas to bermost efliciently operated upon.

In the drawings I have shown nine groups of pickers. on each side of themachine and as illustrated they are some distance apart, but a largernumber of groups may be employed and they may be arranged much closertogether.

- The gearing for operating the chains H is such that thechains travelrearward at about 'the same speed that the machine travels forward so'that when a group of pickers enters a plant there is no dragging actionof the pickers in the plant. Each group of pickers when it arrives atthe front of the frame E, is turned downwardly, as indicated in Fi 1,and extends vertically into a plant an engages the cotton in the bolls.It remainsin engagement therewith long enough to gather the cotton andthen as each group of pickers comes to the lower end of the rack bar J,it is withdrawn from the plant and carried upwardly and then forwardly,as shown in Fig. 1. Preferably each group of pickers is made to extenddiagonally downward and outward, although each group might be made toextend in a straight line downward from its support. Each group ofpickers as it is carried over the top of the picker-frame is turnedslightly this art and those shown need not be de' scribed in detail.There are two such brushes employed, one on each side of the machine,

as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. Each brush is connected by a spur-wheel oto a spur-wheel o2 on the shaft I, and the cotton athered by` thebrushes is stripped thereffyrom by combs P attached to the frame bars Rsupported on the diagonal frame bars B, which bars R also support theshafts of the brushes.

Any'suitableI receptacles may be employed for receiving the detachedcotton, as shown, boxes S are employed for this purpose which aresuspended from the frame bars R.

In order to stifen the structure the front ends of the frame bars R arereferably connected by the adjustable cross gars T.

It will be seen that the mechanisms on opposite sides of the centrallongitudinal line of the mach-ine are substantlally duplicates of eachother and provision is made be brought nearer together or moved far therapart without interferin with their operation. Thus the farmer2 be orehe starts to work in the field, may adjust the machine to operateproperly on the rows of bushes whatever be the distance apart of therows, and it will be observed, that the picking vby which these two setsof mechanisms may mechanism on each side of the machlne can be adjustedbodily up and down so that the pickers may operate on the ripened bollson the lower parts of the bushes or on the lripened bolls on the upperpart thereof, according to the condition of the bolls in the particularseason when the machine is used. This facility of adjustment bothvertically and laterally is considered a very lmportant feature of thismachine. The form-of'pickerstems shown is considered simple andefficient, but other forms can no doubt be used with facility, but theparticular shape given to the picker-stems is such that the cotton canbe very eiiiciently gathered therefrom.

The picker-stems are engaged by the brushes in the manner indicated inFig. 6 and as the teet-hof the brushes wipe down upon the stems, thelatter will be caused to rotate, thus presenting all sides to the actionof the brushes and enabling the cotton to be completely gatheredtherefrom.

I claim as my invention z* l. A cotton harvesting machine, comprisingpicking mechanism on each side of the central line of draft, a mainframe made in two parts, each supporting picking mechanism and eachprovided with a carrying wheel, means for adjusting the width of themain frame to vary the distance between the picking mechanisms, andmeans for adjusting the frame to vary the distance between the wheelswithout changing the distance between the picking mechanisms.

2. A cotton harvesting machine, comprising two sets of pickingmechanisms, one set on each side of the central line of draft, a mainframe made in two parts, each supporting picking mechanism and eachpro-v vided with a carrying wheel, means for adjusting the width ofthemachine frame to vary the distance between the picking mechanisms, meansfor adjusting each set of picking mechanism vertically, and means foradjusting the main frame to vary the distance between the carryingwheels without' changing the distance between the picking mechanisms.

3. A cotton harvesting machine adapted to operate between two adjacentrows of cotton plants, comprising two duplicate sets of pickingmechanisms adapted -to operate simultaneously on two rows of plants,carrying wheels adapted to travel outside said two' rows of plants, aframe supported on said carrying wheels and upon which the pickingmechanism is supported, means for adjustmg said frame to lengthen orshorten the distance between the wheels and to move the two sets 4ofpicking mechanisms toward and from each other to operate upon two rowsof plants closer to or farther away from each other, and means foradjusting the distance vbetween, the carrying wheels without changingthe distance between the picking mechanisms.

LA cotton harvesting machine, comprising two sets of picking mechanismsadapted to operate upon two adjacent rows of plants simultaneously,frames on which said picking mechanisms are mounted, a main frame towhich the picker-carrying frames are attached, means 'for adjusting thewidth of the main frame, arched frame parts contained in said mainframe. and adapted to extend over the tops of the two adjacent rows ofplants, means for vadjusting the widths of these arched parts, andcarrying-wheels supported by said arched parts of the frame.

'able thereon.

G. In a cotton harvesting machine, the combination of the front mainwheel sup ported 'frame and the rear picker-supporting frames connectedwith the front frame v and adjustable vertically thereon and an ad*justable connection between the two pickersupporting frames by means ofwhich said frames may be moved toward and from each other horizontallyand means for adjusting the width of the main frame.

7. In a cotton harvesting machine, the combination of a series of groupsof pickers arranged to move in different planes, means for moving eachpicker about its own axis, means for simultaneously moving all thepickers in each group downwardand outward while the pickers arerotating, thus projecting them laterallytoward the adjacent row ofplants, for holding them against forward and backward movementrelatively to the plants while engaged therewith, and for thenwithdrawing them upward and iuward fromthe plants.

8. In a cotton harvesting machine, the combination of apicker-supporting frame, an endless chain, a picker supported by thechain' and projecting downwardly and outwardly sidewise relatively tothe line of draft while picking, means for rotating the picker about itsown axis while in the act of picking, and means for stripping thegathered cotton from the picker. v

9. In a cotton harvesting machine the combination of a picker supportingframe` an endless chain carried thereby, a series of'" groups of pickerscarried bythe chain wherein the pickers in each` group projectvdownwardly and outwardly sidewise relatively to the line of draft,means for moving the` groups of ickers'laterally toward and from therows o plants on which they operate and means for moving the groups ofpickers downwardly and rearwardly and then upwardly and forward.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

HENRY B. MORRIS.

' Witnesses:

R. S. GRAHAM, T. E. WHEELER.

